Kimora's Shinto Clinical: Official Launch Date

Image of Shinto Clinical products posted at www.twitter.com/ShintoClinical


The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms.  Very often it does not know what to do with genius. --Oliver Wendell Holmes

I am extremely careful about "heaping praise" upon any single individual, because we humans are so prone to screwing up.  But, when it is due and when it is unmistakable, the universe leaves me with no other choice.  Kimora Lee Simmons is a genius.  Let me repeat that.  Kimora Lee Simmons is a genius.

Let me explain something to you.  What we are all witnessing a 36 year old woman do, and having done since her early 20s, is nothing short of genius.  Nothing.  She is fashion.  But, Kimora Lee Simmons is also business.  It is almost too much for my senses to bear.  It's one thing to watch a documentary or read a biography or some such about a genius who once was.  It's quite another to be alive and present to witness all of this in action.  Sure, there are other celebrities and personalities with clothing lines and skincare lines and reality shows and books and such, but there is nobody doing it with as much passion and care and thought as Kimora Lee Simmons.  Nobody. And, I dare anyone to name one other.

Kimora's Shinto Clinical: It's Coming

For months, we've all been anxiously awaiting the launch of Kimora Lee Simmons's new skincare line, Shinto Clinical.  Today, we got a little tease when this was posted from the company's twitter account (which you should definitely go follow):

www.twitter.com/shintoclinical

Oooh la laaaaa!  So mysterious!  The picture below was posted some time ago on the web claiming to be the approved product packaging.  Not sure if that's the case and there isn't any other indication of what it may look like other than the logo present, there, but if that is the packaging, it's pretty slick.  Whatever the case, I wouldn't expect anything less than something eye-catching and fresh from Kimora, so it'll be exciting to see what it actually looks like.
 

Something else of note is, of the 5 Twitter accounts that the Shinto Twitter account is following, one is Nordstrom and the other is QVC, the mega television network for at home shopping.  Oooh la laaaaaaa!!!  If Kimora is taking to the QVC airwaves to sell Shinto Clinical, this would be huge!  I can scarcely fathom what it would mean for sales.  Nordstrom would mean big sales. Absolutely. But, have you ever watched the sales action on one of those at home shopping channels? Huge!!!

Head to shintoclinical.com and be sure to sign up for emailed updates and follow them on Twitter.  Kimora Lee Simmons is about to do it again. --Sugar

Kimora's Just Fabulous Joins Pinterest

www.pinterest.com/justfabonline


It feels as though every week there's a new social media tool.  I'm fairly certain that half of them are useless, but every now and then I stumble upon one that blows me away.  Consider me grasping for something to hold on to because Pinterest has hit me full blast with its endless "pins" of all things fashion, travel, food and quote related, just to name a few categories. 

The site acts as a sort of virtual pin board upon which users can pin images of whatever they'd like to share with other Pinterest addicts members.  It is a feast for the senses.  A couple weeks ago, I sent a tweet to Just Fabulous suggesting that they join Pinterest after seeing a tweet from another company mentioning that their products would soon be pinned there.  Whomever the sweet soul is posting the tweets for Just Fab kindly responded that they were already working on it and they'd be out the gate soon.

Silly me.  The creative lead at Just Fabulous is only a woman who turned a t-shirt into a multi-million dollar a year company.  So, guess what?  Thursday, Just Fabulous announced that their Pinterest is up and running!!!  I know that I haven't done the description justice, and I could ramble on here for a bit longer to describe it, but I need for you to go there and take a look at Pinterest in all its full glory.  You just have to see it!  So, get to it and enjoy!  But, be careful. It is extremely addictive!  Really addictive! --Sugar

Happy New Year!

If you're reading this, I hope that the year ahead is a great one for you.  Even you, Baby Phat/Kellwood water carriers.  Now, I don't mean a great year for Baby Phat, the brand.  I believe that this will be the year it finally goes under and I will rejoice.  But, seriously, I don't wish you all any ill will where your health is concerned and I hope you make it through the year without any debilitating illnesses and such.  But, I need for Phat Fashions to fail and as long as you insist upon misleading the people, if that means Kellwood Company fails along with it, so be it.  Karma is something else.  I think she's got something mighty nasty brewing up for you guys.  --Sugar

Kimora Talks Fashion of the Future

I was just about to start watching season two of Entourage (shuddup!) when I decided I'd better do a quick search to make sure I hadn't missed anything that needed to go up here today.  The failure to post the information about Michael Kramer's departure from Kellwood Company until over two weeks after he'd crawled away is haunting me.  The jerks don't deserve a second of a break. I wanna ride those arses like a Thorouhbred!

Anyway, I checked the Facebook page for this site, then clicked the link to Kimora's Facebook page to make sure she hadn't posted something there that I need to post here when I saw a comment that piqued my interest.  A guy named Patrick McHale wrote: "Just Fabulous Inc. and you featured on front page of LA Times Business section...all this, while at the beach!" I knew it was going to be good, so I headed on over to the L.A. Times website and found this article, Online Shoe Clubs are in Step With Fashion Forward Women. I'm guessing the picture that McHale mentioned was in the print edition, because the picture above is from a previous shoot. But, that's a small matter.  Let's get to it.

Kellwood's Top Rat Jumps Ship

Former Kellwood Company CEO, Michael Kramer

A couple weeks ago when I read a few articles talking about Baby Phat's licensor filing for bankruptcy protection, I should've taken a moment to see how things are going at Kellwood Company, owners of the Baby Phat brand since 2004.  It's a mess.

Michael Kramer (that's him with Satan's overbite in the picture above), the most recent chief executive officer at Kellwood, recently departed, like two weeks ago, to take the chief operating officer position at J.C. Penney Company.  He's also now on the board at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.  No biggie, right? Wrong.  Kramer told Kavita Kumar at the St. Louis Post Dispatch this back in November when she asked him about the rumors that he was leaving Kellwood:

"But if I were to leave Kellwood, I'm not running from anything because this is a phenomenal company," he said. "There's a lot of good things going on here."

Sure, and that's why just over a year after acquiring "upscale contemporary sportswear line" Adam, Kellwood is now dropping it...right?  Because things are going so well?  Yeah, right.  This is what Kramer, the new COO at J.C. Penney Company, told Kumar right after the August, 2010 acquisition:

"Adam is the first one we've nailed. Hopefully, this is the first of many to come."

Maybe he meant nailing a coffin, because the party is over.  And, I do mean party:

After all, for most of its history, the Town and Country-based apparel company has been more accustomed to making private-label clothes for Walmart and moderate-priced brands such as Sag Harbor and Koret.

And yet, last month, there was Michael Kramer, Kellwood's fast-moving and acquisition-hungry chief executive, sitting in the front row at Lincoln Center as models showcasing the designs of two of his most recently purchased brands - Adam and Rebecca Taylor - strutted on the catwalk. [From: STL Dispatch, March, 2011]

Kramer, the "acquisition-hungry chief executive" was poppin bottles with models. Oh yes, he was living it up at Fashion Week.  Now, he's jumped ship because he knows the whole damn thing is about to sink.  I mean, seriously.  Why would he leave a perfectly good chief executive officer post at a company that has "a lot of good things going on" to be somebody's COO?  There's nothing wrong with a COO post, without a doubt, but it's like a demotion for him....unless, it isn't..........

These idiots.  Now, I'm going to have to keep a close eye on Kellwood Company and not just those things related to Baby Phat, because I suspect that some big changes are about to occur.  And, notice the way Kumar (at the STL Post Dispatch) rarely mentions Baby Phat in any of those articles?  It's just a matter of time.  --Sugar

Walmart Doesn't Even Want Baby Phat

I swear, you can't make this stuff up. I was reading an article about Baby Phat's licensor, (NOT Kimora Lee Simmons) BP Clothing, having to file for bankruptcy protection when I happened upon these sentences:

According to court papers, the company has been battling a cash-flow problem that hampered its ability to finance its Baby Phat production. Subsequently, BP Clothing early this year lost its license to sell Baby Phat clothing to Wal-Mart.

When not even Walmart wants you, just give up.  Just give UP!!! The only place left to go is the Slauson Swap Meet and absolutely, you can do that, but I don't think that Erin accepted a job with you morons to promote sales at a swap meet.  The article goes on:

According to court papers, “The debtor seeks to efficiently reduce the substantial debt burden that hinders its ability to effectively compete in a competitive market that has been challenged by overall economic conditions. A successful restructuring will allow the debtor to concentrate its resources on generating revenue and expanding market share.”

Without a doubt, the economy is taking a beating and I'm sure sales in many sectors are down, but the economy is not the reason why Baby Phat is suffering.  Hell, you can buy about 10 Baby Phat shirts for a $1 in Walmart! Okay, that's not true, but it sounds funny.  But, seriously, Baby Phat is not as expensive in Walmart as it once was in say Macy's Herald Square 5 years ago.  It's very affordable and when you can't sell a brand with such iconic appeal in WALmart, Houston, we have a problem!

The reason why sales are down is because karma is ripping you jagoffs a new one.  You so poorly handled your separation with Kimora, I'm guessing under the assumption that she really wasn't as integral a part of that brand as I'm sure you now know she is.  You can't just handle things in such a disrespectful manner and expect for the universe to repay you with wheelbarrows full of filthy stinkin lucre.  It ain't happnin.

I told you fools months ago to fix this and I know you've been reading because I can see you in the stats. From the very moment you so foolishly dismissed Kimora and members of her team without so much as a press release, you had a short window to make it right. Apologize to supporters, give Kimora and her team a proper sendoff and reintroduce yourselves to the urban community and indeed the world.  But, no. You decided to take the less sensible path and now here we are.

I know how these things go.  The suits had probably been giving Kimora and her team hell for months and months on end, pushing them to play ball your way.  But, why?  When she and Russell sold that company to you, that should not have given you the foolish idea that you could do it better, but rather that financially you were willing to take things to a different level. You should have kept your grubby hands off the creative side of things, because as you must now realize, that is not your expertise.  Fools.  Kimora had built that brand into a behemoth, with supporters spanning the globe!  Many of them still don't even know she isn't there any longer!  Oh, but they are finding out--one at a time--and they are not happy about it. This is why you are in freefall right now.  Fools.

It is only a matter of time before Baby Phat, will be no more.  I'm sure that Kimora will consider it a very bittersweet moment.  She didn't put all of her heart and soul into the brand only to have it crumble in such a manner.  And, I'm sure that while she will feel a bit of satisfaction and "I told you so" deep down inside when it happens, she will mourn for the good times that she and her team had while building that brand and honing her business acumen.  I think that we all will.......But, until then? We don't need no water, let the muthaf*cka burn! --Sugar